Moon Tree Post updated

My Moon Tree posting.

 I've found and posted a photo showing the Apollo14 capsule about to land in The Pacific Ocean on February 9, 1971. It carried the "moon tree" seeds.

Anti-Death-Penalty Protestors At The Capitol Building

      "They presented a petition opposing the execution of a man set for tomorrow evening. Here are some photos, starting outside on the Capitol Stairs, ending outside the Governor's office when they met with Pam Bye,  the Governor's Director of constituent Services".

 

CBS Reports

Montgomery, Ala. — - A federal judge on Monday blocked Alabama from executing an inmate who says the state lost his paperwork requesting an alternative to lethal injection.

U.S. District Judge R. Austin Huffaker, Jr. issued a preliminary injunction to block the state from executing Alan Miller on Thursday by any method other than nitrogen hypoxia, an untested method Miller says he requested but Alabama isn't ready to use. Miller was sentenced to die after being convicted of killing three people in a 1999 workplace shooting.

The ruling blocks Alabama from carrying out the lethal injection that had been set for Thursday. However, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall will appeal the decision, Mike Lewis, a spokesman for Marshall, wrote in an email.

"Miller, a delivery truck driver, was convicted in the 1999 workplace shootings that killed Lee Holdbrooks, Scott Yancy and Terry Jarvis in suburban Birmingham. Miller shot Holdbrooks and Yancy at one business and then drove to another location to shoot Jarvis, evidence showed.

A defense psychiatrist said Miller was delusional and suffered from severe mental illness but his condition wasn't bad enough to use as a basis for an insanity defense under state law." 

FULL CBS News STORY is HERE.

Confederate Base Names On The Way Out

 

The military commission tasked with considering new names is out with its official recommendations:

 

N.Y. Times reports: "Fort Rucker, in Alabama, would become Fort Novosel, after Michael Novosel, who gave up the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve and became a chief warrant officer in the Army, which deployed him to Vietnam. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery while conducting a medical evacuation under fire during the Vietnam War."

The paper quotes the former president trump's opposition: “My Administration will not even consider the renaming of these Magnificent and Fabled Military Installations,” he said on Twitter at the time. “Our history as the Greatest Nation in the World will not be tampered with. Respect our Military!”

 FULL N.Y. Times story is HERE.

 

Remembering

 Rev. Robert Graetz died two years ago today, his wife of almost 70 years, Jeannie, passed just three months later.

 

I miss them.

Rev. Robert Graetz

 His death came two years ago today. He had been cared for in  his final years by his wife, Jeannie. She died in December, three months after him.

R.I.P. to you both, my friends.

How Many Ants on earth?

 "A new estimate for the total number of ants burrowing and buzzing on Earth comes to a whopping total of nearly 20 quadrillion individuals.

20,000,000,000,000,000, or 20,000 trillion — reveals ants’ astonishing ubiquity even as scientists grow concerned a possible mass die off of insects could upend ecosystems."

FULL Washington Post story is HERE.

Covid vaccine for Alabama kids? No thanks.

The Washington Post reports....

"Even in places with strong pro-vaccine sentiments, few young children have received shots..."

 "In Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi — which occupy the bottom of the list — the rates are even more dismal: less than 0.2 percent. Health officials worry that the lackluster vaccination uptake might leave the nation vulnerable to coronavirus clusters in the fall and winter."

Last year, Governor Ivey blamed unvaccinated adults:

“It’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks. It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.” 

Yet she refused, and is continuing to refuse to require vaccinations...for adults or children. Only 52% of the Alabama population is fully vaccinated.

About That Coat

 I've updated the background that went into the adoption of a new Alabama State Seal in 1939.

See the entry HERE. 

 

Alabama Children & Opioids

 

According to a new report from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General:

27% of Alabama children on Medicaid received at least one prescription opioid (27%), the highest percentage in the six Appalachian States.

(See the full report HERE) (Look at Appendix "B")

Dividing Highways

      When I-85 and I-65 were completed through Montgomery, the road projects destroyed a longstanding black neighborhood in the capitol city. And it wasn't the only place that happened. As The Washington Post reports this week, steps are being taken to repair some of the damage done with similar projects in Detroit:

 

"Detroit’s Paradise Valley was a buzzing nightlife district, home to jazz clubs and hundreds of other Black-owned business. Then urban renewal plans launched after World War II and the digging of a highway through the area displaced more than 100,000 residents.

Today, almost nothing of Paradise Valley and the neighboring Black Bottom area remain.

For years, Detroit leaders worked on a plan to fill in the highway trench, turning Interstate 375 into a mile-long boulevard. On Thursday, the Biden administration announced it would give Michigan a helping hand in the form of a $105 million grant.

The award is the biggest step the administration has taken toward helping to remove an aging highway, fulfilling — in one community, at least — a goal the White House set when it announced infrastructure plans early last year."

 (FULL Washington Post story HERE)

Now the question is will the feds provide similar funding in the Alabama Capitol City, even though that amount would only be a drop in the bucket. It costs about $11-Million a mile to build interstates within city limits. ow much to undo the damage?

 

At The Capri TOMORROW!!!

 

"LIVE" ON SCREEN

42nd STREET SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 @ 1:00 Shown in partnership with Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Introduction by Joseph Crawford, ASF.

One of Broadway's most classic and beloved tales, 42nd Street, comes to U.S. cinema screens in the largest-ever production of the breathtaking musical. 

Filmed in 2018 at London’s Theatre Royal the production is directed by the original author of the show, Mark Bramble. This eye-watering extravaganza is full of crowd-pleasing tap dances, popular musical theatre standards (“Lullaby of Broadway”, “We’re in the Money" (the gold digger’s song), “42nd Street” and more), and show-stopping ensemble production numbers.

Run time: 155 minutes including one 10 minute intermission.

TICKETS: $13 for Members • $15 for Non-Members. ON SALE NOW.

42nd STREET- Tickets Available Online

Sadly, Following Alabama's Old Lead

 In case you missed it, as the N.Y. Times reports:

"Yeshiva University abruptly announced on Friday that it had placed all undergraduate club activities on hold, the latest maneuver in the legal battle by the Modern Orthodox Jewish institution to keep from recognizing an L.G.B.T.Q. student group."

Shades of Alabama in the 1960's!

Back then Montgomery closed the Oak Park zoo in Montgomery rather than allow black children to use it. 

Same with swimming pools in the state. Shut 'em down rather than let black people share them.

Hope the leaders of Yeshiva University are comfortable being in old Alabama company.

Ceremony today

 

 

NOW I WISH MY LOCAL POST OFFICE WOULD GET ITS ACT TOGETHER AND REPLACE THE TORN POW/MIA FLAG THEY HAVE BEEN DISPLAYING OUT FRONT FOR MONTH!

New Drug Market?

     All kinds of media have been reporting colored candies are being spread around to get kids to take Fentanyl.

WHAT?

    Dealers want to sell to kids?...who generally don't have much cash on them anyway? And at the same time, dealers give the drug away by disguising it to look like sidewalk chalk that kids will pick up and absorb through skin contact.

HUH?

TIME magazine:

"...the DEA hasn’t revealed evidence that the colors are intended specifically to attract children. Fentanyl has come in colors for years, and some research has found that color is one of the ways drug users identify illicit drugs’ potency. “It’s actually keeping them safe, because they know what they’re getting for each color,” says Jon E. Zibbell, a senior public health analyst at RTI International, a nonprofit research institute promoting science-based solutions for public-health issues..."

The allegations don't make much sense, but that hasn't stopped the media from picking up on the stories, using scary headlines like this:

Police warn new, brightly colored Fentanyl targeted at children

STOP!

There are enough dangers in the world for children without adding obscure but scary information for parents to worry about!

Did they get tired of airing stories about razor blades in Halloween candy?

COVID Data

Covid Hospitalization rate

Alabama
14-day change: 21% decrease
Hospitalizations per 100,000 people: 11

------------------------------------------------------------------

Alabama has the

Second Lowest vaccination rate in the U.S.

50. Alabama
Number of people fully vaccinated: 2,560,721
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 52.2

In last place?

(51. Wyoming
Number of people fully vaccinated: 300,639
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 51.9)

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Alabama has the

6th highest death rate:
Deaths per 100,000: 0.24
Daily average deaths: 11.9

------------------------------------------------------------------

 

September 14, 2022: 150 Years ago: England pays for CSS Alabama Damages

 

Alabama Claims under the Geneva Tribunal

Following the Civil War, resolution of American claims against the British government for allowing the Confederate government to contract the building of three commerce raiders in British shipyards resulted in a treaty agreement and the formation of the Geneva Tribunal as arbiter of the claims.  William initially submitted a claim but subsequently withdrew it.
 

Three ships were built for the Confederacy in Britain, the Alabama, the Florida, and the Shenandoah. Except for the Florida, these ships never visited a Confederate port, but they did sink a considerable amount of Northern shipping, particularly in the Pacific Ocean, before they were hunted down and destroyed in 1864. The British government originally refused to consider any compensation. When reminded that a precedent was being set, and that the United States might build similar warships for Britain's enemies in future wars, Her Majesty's Government reconsidered and agreed to an arbitration tribunal that met in Geneva in December 1871. On September 14, 1872, the Tribunal awarded the United States $15.5 million for the damages caused by the Alabama and its sister ships.(3)
The process of establishing and paying off claims took many years. In January 1883, the Court of Commissioners of Alabama Claims held its first business session in Washington. At that time, more than 6,000 claims had been filed.(2) William reported in his diary in May that he had gone to an insurance company to testify as to his claim regarding a shipment to California.(Diary, 1883-05-01) During 1883, the Court of Commissioners processed the submitted claims.(1) Nevertheless, in October of that year, William noted that he had ordered his Alabama claim to be withdrawn.(Diary 1883-10-27, 10-30) He did not provide the reason why he had taken that action.

Washington Post "Cost of Removing confederate Items"

 

Statue of Jeff Davis at Alabama Capitol

 

"Removing the last vestiges of Confederate history from the U.S. military, including renaming nine Army posts, will cost more than $62 million, a congressional commission said Tuesday.

The cost was summarized by the group tasked with a sweeping audit of the Defense Department to identify, rename, modify or remove assets that commemorate the battlefield exploits of those who fought during the Civil War to preserve slavery. There are 1,100 such items across the military, the commission found."

FULL Washington Post story is HERE

In Alabama, the biggest change is to Fort Rucker, named after a confederate General who became a Birmingham businessman after the war.  There is also a restaurant named for Rucker in Birmingham, but there are not apparent plant to change that name.

English

A man wearing a vest with "War Crimes Prosecutor" on it....in English.

Ukranian officials investigate potential war crimes, even as the war continues around them.

See a BBC story HERE.

 

Alabama Among the Ten Most Polluted States!

States with the worst pollution...worst at the top...finds a study reported in U.S. News and World Report:

50. Louisiana

49. Nevada

48. Indiana

47. Delaware

46. Utah

45. Ohio

44. Oregon

43. Tennessee

42. Illinois

41. Alabama

40. Texas

Louisiana ranks dead last, coming in as the most-polluted state in the U.S., according to EPA information on WGN website:

FULL REPORT HERE.